update

It's been nearly two weeks since I posted anything more than just random video clips, pictures, or articles. Perhaps I haven't felt much like introspection. (Okay, there's no perhaps about it.)

So the week before this last one, David interviewed for a job that I really really wanted him to get. I had fantasies about him getting this job. It seemed perfect in so many ways. I futilely tried not to get my hopes up, but they seemed to climb without any assistance and despite my efforts to keep them grounded. A couple days after the interview we got the, "We went with somebody else," phone call. I was devastated. Many tears of frustration and sorrow were shed. Disappointment reigned supreme.

Anyways, a couple of days after that he was able to go find a part-time sales job (I think it might allow for up to full-time after the initial period) that has a base wage plus commission. It's obviously not our ideal situation, but for now we are grateful for it and hopeful that it will help us be self-sufficient again. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, right? He did the training this past week and can start working this week. Send good sales vibes his way, will you?

My job offered a bonus these past two weeks if you worked at least 25 hours and met productivity criteria. I met the hour requirement, so it remains to be seen if I was sufficiently productive. (I think I was.) I'd been working right around 20 hours/week, so it was a bit of a stretch to fit in more hours. I think I might be adjusting to the new, fuller workload and busier life in general, though. I hope so. It's hard to feel like there is so much that is going undone.

I've been really grateful this week for friends, and family members who are also good friends. Today in General Conference, Elder Cook (I think) mentioned President Monson's birthday wish from his 81st birthday in August. Without a moment's hesitation he said, "Do something for someone else on that day to make his or her life better. Find someone who is having a hard time, or is ill, or lonely, and do something for them. That's all I would ask." We have had so many people extend generosity and love to us during the past five months, it has been so encouraging and uplifting. I feel like I've been much more of a receiver than a giver throughout this whole ordeal, and maybe that's how life goes sometimes, but I have certainly been grateful for the kindnesses of others, and am more determined to be better at helping others in the future. Maybe for stubborn people like me it takes a bout with hard times to realize how much even the little things can mean. But they certainly do mean a lot.